Global Mall at the Crossings

Global Mall at the Crossings (formerly Hickory Hollow Mall) was a 1.1 million-square-foot (102,193-square-meter) regional indoor shopping mall in the Nashville neighborhood of Antioch, Tennessee, located just east of I-24 at exit 59 along Bell Road (Route 254). The shopping center was inaugurated on August 11, 1978, and flourished for three decades, containing 249 stores during its heyday as the largest and highest-grossing mall in Tennessee. Many factors led to its decline during the late 2000s, plummeting to a mere 12 retailers by the year 2012, earning its status as a dead mall. Between 2012 and 2016, over $50 million was invested in revitalizing the Hickory Hollow property and 58 tenants occupied the internationally-themed mall (47.8% occupancy) by 2016. On June 1, 2019, a sign was posted at the main entrance indicating the mall was closed. It has not reopened since. Antioch was a small rural community of farmers in the 1960s. A massive population influx in the 1970s was fueled by the construction of numerous apartment complexes after the sewer system was extended to the outskirts of Nashville. Hickory Hollow Mall opened on August 11, 1978, on 27 acres of land in Nashville's burgeoning southeastern neighborhood amidst the explosive growth. It was Middle Tennessee's fifth mall, its second super regional mall, and one of Tennessee's first two-tiered indoor shopping centers. For its first three years, it was the largest retail space in the state of Tennessee, surpassing Goodlettsville's Rivergate Mall, which opened in 1971. The mall's structure featured three wings in a T-shaped layout connected by a large two-story atrium hub, containing a total of 137 tenants, including an arcade and a movie theater. On opening night, Mall Cinemas 1–2–3 operated by Consolidated Theatres featured newly released movies on all three screens including Animal House at 7:00 p.m., Grease at 7:15 p.m., and Hooper at 7:30 p.m. Local department store, Cain-Sloan, opened on August 9, two days prior to the mall's inauguration, and was situated on the south side of the central hub (as the south wing did not yet exist).